The present invention relates to a process and machine for making large pastas in the form of swiss rolls.
Equipment is described in FR-A-2272611 for making filled products in the form of rolled up ribbons, for example, filled crepes prepared from a strip of baked pastry. Such equipment comprises a conveyor belt, a cutter and a roller by means of which a strip of baked pastry, while being transported on the conveyor belt, is first cut into ribbons which, after having been dosed with filling material, are rolled up on themselves by contacting the roller, positioned transversely above and whose longitudinal axis is parallel to the flat surface of the conveyor belt, which roller rotates on its longitudinal axis in a direction opposite to the movement of the conveyor belt and transmits a rotatory movement to the ribbons of cooked pastry which causes them to roll upon themselves. The axis of the roller may be positioned diagonally in relation to the conveyor belt. However, this equipment is used for making rolled products of narrow width, whereas our object is to make rolled pastas with a large width which are to be cut later. The normal thickness of pastry material for crepes is about 2 mm, whereas we want to use a pasta thickness of about 0.9 to 1.7 mm thickness. The method of the French patent would involve difficulties in picking up such a thin sheet without tearing and without leakage of the filling. The pasta would also have an irregular, unattractive shape.
We have found, surprisingly, that if the roller is positioned at an angle across the width of the conveyor belt and if its upstream end is wider than its downstream end, these problems can be overcome.